MINUTES OF THE CITY OF SAN RAMON - COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 11, 1999

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was called to order on May 11, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 2222 Camino Ramon, Mayor Athan presiding.

PRESENT: Councilmembers Hudson, Kinney, Raab, Welm and Mayor Athan
ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Herb Moniz, City Attorney Bob Saxe, Police Chief Obie Anderson, Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Eorio, City Engineer Joye Fukuda, Planning Director Phil Wong, Economic Development Director April Gray, Transportation Analyst Lisa Bobadilla, Recreation Supervisor Kim Giuliano, Associate Civil Engineer Moustefa Kendroud and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

The City Manager said PG&E would be working Wednesday, May 19 and Thursday, May 20 at night to pull wires to facilitate work on the towers during the day.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Mayor Athan read a proclamation declaring May 17-21, 1999 as San Ramon Bike to Work Week and Tuesday, May 18, 1999 as San Ramon Bike to Work Day.

The Transportation Analyst told about the Bike-to-Work Day Energizer Stations and events.

The Recreation Supervisor introduced the Art and Wind Festival Sponsors; KKIQ, San Ramon Marriott, San Ramon Regional Medical Center, San Ramon Valley Times and TCI.

Mayor Athan thanked the sponsors and gave them framed posters of the festival.

Mayor Athan introduced Sally Scholl and read a proclamation congratulating her on being selected San Ramon Valley Unified School District Teacher of the Year.

After listing Ms. Scholl's many accomplishments Mayor Athan said this was the second time she had been selected Teacher of the Year.

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Cub Scouts from Pack 203, Den 2 - Golden View School, led Council, staff and those in the audience in the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

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PUBLIC COMMENT

None

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APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Cm. Raab's motion to approve the minutes of the April 27, 1999 meeting was seconded by Cm. Kinney and passed 5-0.

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CONSENT CALENDAR

Cm. Welm said the description of some of the expenses on the Register of Demands was less than definitive and he would like to see more explanation on future registers.

The Administrative Services Director said the new accounting system allows for the inclusion of more data and that would be accomplished within the next couple of weeks.

Cm. Kinney said he had a concern on item 8.4, Lighting and Landscaping District, regarding the Crown Ridge development on the corner of Alcosta and San Ramon Valley Boulevard. He said so far that area had just been hydroseeded and he felt that was not an appropriate entry statement for the city. He said he would like to have the developer present to answer questions at the public meeting scheduled for May 25, 1999.

Cm. Hudson said he was present at the Architectural Review Board meeting when the landscaping for that area was discussed and he did not think that was the plan that was approved. He said he was 99% sure that hydroseeding alone would never make it and he would like to see the plans.

Cm. Kinney's motion to approve the following Consent Calendar was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 5-0.

FINANCE

Register of Demands dated April 16, 23, 30 and May 7, 1999 in the amount of $1,540,961.17

RESOLUTION NO. 99-41

APPROVING FINAL MAP FOR SUBDIVISION 8013 LOCATED ON THE PINE VALLEY ROAD EXTENSION WEST OF SAN RAMON VALLEY BOULEVARD (TOLL BROTHERS/CIRCLE E RANCH - PHASE II)

RESOLUTION NO. 99-44

AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH PARSONS, BRINCKERHOFF, QUADE AND DOUGLAS, INC. FOR DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE ALCOSTA BOULEVARD/I680 INTERCHANGE PROJECT (CIP 8144) IN THE AMOUNT OF $894,016

RESOLUTION NO. 99-45

APPROVING FISCAL YEAR 1999/2000 ENGINEER'S REPORT, ADOPTING RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO LEVY AND COLLECT ASSESSMENTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999/2000 AND SETTING PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 25, 1999 - LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING DISTRICT 1984-1

RESOLUTION NO. 99-48

RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO ORDER ASSESSMENTS AND SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 25, 1999 FOR THE GEOLOGIC HAZARD ABATEMENT DISTRICT 1990-01 WEST BRANCH AND GALE RANCH/ SHAPELL INDUSTRIES AND WINDEMERE/WINDEMERE RANCH PARTNERS FISCAL YEAR 1999/2000 ENGINEER'S REPORT

RESOLUTION NO. 99-49

AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE THOMPSON GROUP FOR RESURFACING THE TENNIS COURTS AT CENTRAL PARK, ATHAN DOWNS AND SAN RAMON OLYMPIC POOL AND TENNIS COURTS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $60,000 AND AUTHORIZING A BUDGET INCREASE OF $176,990

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WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

Mayor Athan said the City Council had received the following correspondence: From Eloise Shouse, Regional Director, United States Department of State, Passport Agency thanking San Ramon staff for providing valuable passport execution processing services for the community.

From Thomas Zimmerman and Michele Thompson of the Public and Environmental Health Advisory Board supporting the City Council's adopting of the Tobacco-Free Youth Ordinance.

From Cindra D. Wheeler, President, Del Valle Council of PTAs urging the Council to pass the Tobacco-Free Youth Ordinance.

From Anna Evashko, President, Californians for Telecommunications Choice addressing the joint efforts opposing SBC/Pac Bell's application for rate increases.

Mayor Athan asked the Police Chief to check with the sheriffs of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties to see why they were opposing the rate increase application.

Cm. Welm said initially there was a misconception that the 411 information calls were going to be charged under emergency services and that would be an increase to cities budgets and since then there had been some clarification that 411 calls for emergency agencies will not have a charge. He said he did not feel the Council should get involved in this type of issue.

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PUBLIC SCHOOLS FACILITIES REPORT

The City Attorney said at the April 13 meeting, the Council identified the fact that the Public School Facilities Report that is provided for in the ordinance and is to be prepared by the Planning Department was really duplicated by the work done by the School District. He said the ordinance has a disclosure provision which directs prospective buyers of new homes to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District for information concerning the schools that would serve the neighborhood in which the prospective purchaser is interested in buying. He said at that meeting the Council directed that the requirements for preparation of the report be eliminated. He said the ordinance that was introduced at the last meeting did not eliminate the disclosure requirements but simply directed buyers to the school district.

Cm. Hudson said the report in the ordinance covers buyers of all homes not just new homes.

No one spoke during the public hearing.

Cm. Hudson's motion to adopt the ordinance eliminating the requirement for the preparation of the report and waive the reading was seconded by Cm. Kinney and passed 5-0.

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ORDINANCE NO. 309

ELIMINATING THE REQUIREMENT FOR PREPARATION OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES REPORT BY THE CITY OF SAN RAMON

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DEERWOOD ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

The Associate Civil Engineer said the Deerwood Road improvement project starts at the intersection of Deerwood Road, Omega Road and Old Crow Canyon Road and extends about 800 feet west and connects to the existing Deerwood Road. He said the project provides for the road widening from two lanes to four lanes with a bike lane on each side and a raised median. He also said in addition there will landscaping, street lighting and undergrounding of utilities. He said to accommodate the road widening the City needed additional right-of-way on each side of the roadway. He said at this time the City has obtained all the required right-of-way including the property at 2239 Omega Road which is still occupied by Digiray. He continued to say the project requires that only one-third of that building be demolished to make room for the project improvements and based on this situation Digiray has made a proposal that the City should demolish one-third of the building and operate the remaining two-thirds to accommodate Digiray. Based on Digiray's proposal the City has retained two independent structural engineers to evaluate the stability of the building after the building is partially demolished. He said both of the engineers' reports indicated the building will not have enough bracing after one-third of the building is demolished and in addition all the ceilings exterior walls have to be demolished from inside in order to install the required bracing and that would require the existing tenants move out for about three months. The estimate to do the required work of demolishing one-third of the building, installing the required bracing and rerouting the utilities to the north end of the building was $562,000.

David Self, attorney for Digiray, said they understood and were advised in writing that the City was interested in seeing if structurally one-third of the building necessary to widen the street could be removed and the remaining portion of the building rehabilitated and made safe and capable of housing Digiray in the remaining two-thirds. He said they had been advised that this could be done easily, safely and inexpensively. He said Digiray would be willing to either make the improvements on the City's property and remain as a tenant and guarantee and hold harmless the City from any liability whatsoever as a result of this and guarantee that it would meet code or Digiray would be willing to buy the entire building from the City and do all of the rehabilitation itself, meeting all of the code requirements of the current code and bringing the building up to absolute City satisfaction. He said the equipment used by Digiray was very sensitive and it required lead lined rooms. He said the latest estimate to move the equipment was over $1 million and they think the City is obligated to pay for it.

Cm. Welm asked Mr. Self how quickly could Digiray accomplish the demolition of one-third of the building and get out of the way of the new road?

Mr. Self said the estimate from their engineers was two months.

Cm. Welm stated the staff report said the seismic retrofit had to be done from the interior and Digiray's advisers were saying something different.

Mr. Self said it was their opinion that there was no need to augment the structural character of the building and it would be structurally more safe with one-third of the building removed than it is now.

Cm. Hudson asked how soon Digiray would be able to move the equipment that had to be moved.

Dr. Albert, Digiray owner, said there were a number of alternatives that were possible in the building retrofit and one of them was that nothing would have to be removed from the area they now occupy.

Cm. Hudson confirmed the City had not made an offer to sell the property to Digiray.

Mayor Athan confirmed that moving the utilities was included in the quoted price.

Mr. Self said they would be willing to put up a bond guaranteeing the completion of the work in 60 days.

Cm. Welm said he would like to hear from Digiray's engineer relative to timing.

Joe McHale said he was a civil engineer specializing in structural and architectural design of building structures.

Cm. Welm asked Mr. McHale how quickly this project could get out of the way of the road?

Mr. McHale said that would depend on working with the building official because there is an acknowledgement that demolishing one-third of the structure would potentially weaken it and whether or not they could continue to occupy the building on a temporary basis while that demolition was being done. He said he felt it would take a couple months minimum to get a design to the point where it could go to the building department for a permit and then maybe by fall at some point it could actually be under construction or demolition, depending on which course is taken.

Cm. Welm confirmed that Mr. McHale felt that one-third of the building could be out of the way of the construction of the road in four months.

Mr. Self said Digiray had an estimate from the contractor for two months of construction work to clear the way for the road. He said they would be willing to bond the project to meet the City's time table.

Cm. Kinney said the staff report indicates that Digiray had an option to buy the building and they had decided not to. He said you want to buy it now and asked why the change.

Mr. Self said they had had an option to buy the building from the former owner and that option had expired one month after the lease expired. He said if they had exercised their option that would have meant they would have to have paid $1.6 million for a building that the City had threatened to demolish. In response to Cm. Kinney's questions, Mr. Self said in his letter Digiray had offered to pay the City $330,000 for the building and that was a negotiable figure if the City was willing to enter the concept of sale. He also confirmed that meant retrofitting the building, bringing it back up to code and ADA standards and moving the utilities. Mr. Self said whatever adjustments had to be made in the Digiray work while reconstruction was going on would be miniscule compared to work that would have to be done to move the equipment and re-establish it at another site and rehabilitate that site to accommodate Digiray.

Dr. Albert said Digiray Corporation was founded in 1981 and after telling about the technical aspect of his x-ray work he showed slides of the inside of the building and the large equipment.

Cm. Welm confirmed the City had nothing of Digirays in its possession that was confidential.

Mayor Athan said the City Attorney and City Manager would get in touch with Dr. Albert and the Council would be giving instructions to the City's negotiators in the closed session to be held after the meeting.

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SAN RAMON VALLEY BLVD WIDENING PROJECT

The Associate Civil Engineer said the San Ramon Valley Boulevard widening project had been broken down into several phases and summarized the phases that had been already been completed. He said this phase of the project would widen San Ramon Valley Boulevard in two sections from two lanes to four lanes with bike lanes on each side.

Mayor Athan opened the public hearing.

Roger Gaither, 238 Kittery Place, said he had lived in the area for over 20 years and represented the First Baptist Church on San Ramon Valley Boulevard. He said some of the concerns they had were there were some cuts that would have to be done on the slope easement. He said the reason the City did not have to buy the easement was because the church had given it to the county in 1969 with the proviso the county government and in this case the city would pay for the widening. He said a concern they had brought up was they wanted assurance that the wall would be cut 2 to 1. He said it is a 4 to 1 slope and they wanted to make sure that it was going to be stable enough. He said he needed to know the name of the insurance carrier because if the church is going to drop six inches, obviously the church will have to be taken care of. He said he appreciated the staff and what they had done.

Mayor Athan closed the public hearing.

Cm. Welm's motion to adopt the Negative Declaration Mitigation Measures for the San Ramon Valley Boulevard Widening Project was seconded by Cm. Raab and passed 5-0

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MAY 6 MAYORS' CONFERENCE

Vice Mayor Kinney summarized the May 6 Mayors' Conference.

Cm. Welm said San Ramon would be hosting the June 3 Mayors' Conference and an item on that agenda would be Caltrans response or lack of response to graffiti. He said he would not be able to attend that meeting and he would like the Mayor to relay what he felt was a perfect example of the kind of cooperation that we need among agencies in order to stamp out the blight of graffiti. He said we need to impress on everyone that graffiti is not an acceptable part of the landscape.

Cm. Kinney said he performed his first wedding ceremony today at the Community Center and the couple was now on their honeymoon on their way to Seattle.

Mayor Athan said the Council had received a copy of the proposed Request for Qualifications for the Civic Center and he asked if there were any comments.

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There being no further business to come before the City at 8:55 p.m. Mayor Athan said he would adjourn the meeting to meet in closed session in the memory of Bob Scholl, a valued member of our community.

Byron D. Athan, Mayor
Judy Macfarlane, City Clerk 

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